An Epitaph of Derailed Narcissism
by Blythe Flynn
Summary: Draco's mind is numb as he walks towards his noose. Too much pressure. Too much darkness in his thoughts. He plans to commit suicide in the Great Hall, but as he reaches his destination, he finds that someone else has gotten there first.
1. Self Righteous Suicide

**An Epitaph of Derailed Dreams**

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**Author's Note: **I've been hatching this idea for quite some time…I'm not entirely sure how well it will come across, but I shall make an attempt. I'm continuing with my ever-present goal to reach 1000 reviews on a single piece…so far this hasn't come to pass, but my hope is still intact…so REVIEW!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, setting or anything else you recognize…the plot, however, is mine…

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_'I will hang myself. I will make it clear that I was not a mere 'troubled child.' I am in seventh year, damnit, a decent student. I am not troubled, and I am not a child. I think I shall hang myself in a place where I can exemplify myself as the victimized criminal I am. The Great Hall. I shall hang myself in the Great Hall. And they shall see me dead.'_

Draco's eyes glazed over as his cold fingers looped around the length of the cord sheathed inside the sleeves of his expensive dress robes. '_At least I'll die in a decent robe. Show the filthy mudbloods what kind of death masks money can buy.' _

His glossy pupils stared blankly towards the arriving end of the hallway, his mind slowly killing himself before the noose could wear itself upon his throat. Each thought strangling another before they had a chance to be mused over. _'Mother?'_No. _'Pain?'_ No. _'Time?'_No. _'Father?'_No. No. No. No.

Unconsciously his feet managed to carry his weight down the corridor leading to the Great Hall. The other passageways were empty, the silence almost resounded, echoed in Draco's ears as he moved blindly. _Midnight__ is a lonely hour.'_

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Footsteps. The sudden arrival, or perhaps realization of sound broke his trance. Draco stopped to listen. The footsteps stopped as well. After a minute of silence, Draco continued on his passage.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Footsteps again. Louder this time. Once again, Draco stopped to listen. Silence. He continued down the corridor.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Footsteps once again. This time Draco ignored the sound echoing in his head. He knew exactly who it was. It was his own reality catching up with him. It was precisely what he was trying to get away from. And so he ignored the pacing footsteps.

The doors of the Great Hall seemed heavier than they looked as Draco lifted the iron handle. It creaked emptily as he pushed the doors open.

_'Now I shall show them all my pain. My battle. My self-righteous suicide.' _Draco thought decisively to himself as he surveyed the Great Hall.

_'Where to end my life?'_ No ceiling hooks to affix the rope, no overhanging beams. _'Aha.'_ His eyes, suddenly sharp and unshielded, caught upon the bar holding a row of candles near the large windows behind professor Dumbledore's chair. His throne. His sacrificial altar. Slowly, with great purpose, Draco strode over to the full length window.

Someone had beaten him to it.

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Author's Note: Ok, here's the deal…8 reviews before a new chapter can show up! __


	2. Haunted

**An Epitaph of Derailed Dreams**

**Author's Note: **Well, I got a good response to chapter one, so chapter two is on its way!

**Disclaimer: **What you see here that you may recognize is what I like to refer to as 'stolen ideas'…I swear I thought of the Harry Potter series first…Rowling is telepathic. She stole the ideas, not me.

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_Long lost words whisper slowly to me  
Still cant find what keeps me here  
When all this time I've been so hollow inside_

_I know your still there  
  
Watching me wanting me  
I can feel you pull me down  
Fearing you loving you  
I wont let you pull me down  
  
Hunting you, I can smell you alive  
Your heart pounding in my head  
  
Watching me wanting me  
I can feel you pull me down  
Saving me raping me  
Watching me_

_-Amy Lee: 'Haunted' by Evanescence _

Draco's attention fixed itself on the hanging corpse before him. It transfixed his gaze as he watched it methodically swing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The constant pattern of motion, the weight of the body swaying on the noose caused Draco to lose interest in everything but the movements. There _was _nothing else.

_'That person looks familiar, though distinctly foreign. Whoever it is, they beat me to my own given destiny. Prick. They stole my death.'_

Without warning, the death-cold face of the swinging body began to liven. The mouth cracked into a crooked smile and the hollow eyes opened; staring deeply into the suddenly alert eyes of Draco. Slowly the body's hands raised up to the knot around its neck and began to loosen the grip of the noose, slipping it over its cocked head.

"Hello, Draco." The childlike voice said, the sound resonating through the otherwise empty Great Hall.

"You found me." Draco replied to the pale beast before him. "You robbed me of my own suicide. Why didn't you just stay dead?"

"You knew I couldn't. Why would you come in here if you thought I could?" Rhetorical question for Draco…The voice was so cold. So innocently cruel. So distorted.

For a moment, the two sets of eyes met each other in an empty gaze, unmoving. Unfeeling.

"I'll let you die again." Draco turned slowly, intently towards the doors of the Great Hall again and allowed the images of the falsely dead body infest his thoughts as he gradually made his sullen way back to the Slytherin dormitories.

_'This is simply a postponement. I shall still die at my own hands, but I will not share the glory with a foolhardy prankster.' _

As Draco removed his day robes and put on his nightclothes, he could feel eyes boring into the back of his skull. Turning briskly, he faced the window to see nobody.

_'Paranoia. Great. Just what you want to start kicking in again, eh, Malfoy.' _He chastised himself for tricking his mind to believing there was someone behind him. But still the echoes of suspicion raised the hairs on his neck as he eased himself into his four poster bed. Closing his eyes and blowing out the candle lit beside his pillow, he lay himself down and tried to succumb to sleep. Draco was nearing slumber when the haunting voice whispered in his ear, "I can see the nightmares you're going to have tonight."

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Author's Note: Well….how about that?!?!? You know the drill, eight REVIEWS before you get another chapter!


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